From August through November 2004,
Web visitors wrote in and shared their reactions to this
special online project. See a sampling of comments below,
or visit the archived React
conversation.Austin, TexasFRONTLINE/World has really been a God-send to me.
I am very interested in knowing what the world is thinking,
politically, socially and literally, and your "young" reporters
out in the world are doing a marvelous job.

Prattville,
Alabama There are so many parts of the world
that you hear next to nothing about on commercial television's
news reports. Without programs like this how are we supposed
to be informed voting public? Thanks.

Montreal, Canada Regrettably, Americans ARE ignorant
of most that goes on in other countries around the world.

North Fort Myers, Florida Why should we care what the world
thinks? Americans make their own decisions based on their
own interests. Would French or Russian voters base their
election decisions what Americans think?

San Francisco, California Of course we should care what the
rest of the world thinks, not only of the election and
the two candidates, but also of our conduct in the world.
All eyes are on us as our behavior and policies impact
people the world over.

Washington, D. C. Not to care what the rest of the
world thinks of Bush and Kerry is to remain arrogant,
ignorant, righteous, shameless, alone, and weak.

Lincoln, New Mexico Like most Americans, I know little
about Greenland and our involvement there. It would be
interesting to know how many other small places in the
world owe a good part of their existence to the U.S. Dollar.

Sharon, New Hampshire My personal biggest issue is the
image and reputation that the U.S. has in the world. This
article [from Germany] made a big difference in helping
me make an evaluation.

Cambridge, Massachusetts I've just read Joe Rubin's report
on El Salvador. I was enormously impressed with his piece
... Rubin is bold and blunt in pointing out the U.S. role,
both past and present.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia The mass media coverage about Darfur
crisis is way lacking. Most of my friends have no idea
what is going on because they hardly read the newspaper,
etc.

Cocoa, Florida I am appalled. This [the Darfur
crisis] is not on the news in the U.S. It appears another
Rwanda HAS happened. I will speak out to everyone I can;
and also to my elected officials about this matter. I
am saddened.

Chicago, Illinois Ms. Obaid's report from North West
of Pakistan is insightful and a pleasure to read. She
has captured the feelings and aspirations of a nation
struggling to define its identity in the new world order.

Iowa City, Iowa I enjoyed Mr. Gage's interview from
Thailand very much. I agreed with what he said and believe
he expressed the sentiments of many Americans living in
the U.S.

India Nice dispatch [from Burma] with
unbiased reporting. ... When U.S. can trade with countries
like Saudi Arabia, then why not with Myanmar [Burma]?

Santa Fe, New Mexico What an interesting perspective!
Thanks for reporting on a 'slice of life' many of us knew
nothing about.

Hernani, Gipuzkoa, Spain ... May I say that the Eastern European
countries are far from being a homogeneous entity. Romania,
Albania and all the Balkans suffered 400 years of Turkish
domination and they have very little in common with Poland,
Slovenia or Hungary.

Seattle, Washington As an increasingly cynical young
voter... I feel outrage that the "powers that be" feel
no obligation to explain our changing alliances without
the usual slippery circumlocution.

Chicago, Illinois Americans should be more cautious
at choosing their president, because he will not only
lead United States, he will lead the world, too.

An
Election Heard 'Round the World
November 10, 2004 FRONTLINE/World series editor
Stephen Talbot kicked off the "Dispatches from a Small Planet:
Election 2004" Web series with a dispatch from Lebanon and
Syria. In this final report, Talbot concludes the series
with a sampling of the world's response to the U.S. presidential
election, comments from our audience, and his own analysis.
GO>>

GREENLAND:
Colin Powell's Glacier
November 9, 2004
Correspondent Krista Mahr reports on local views in Greenland,
where the Bush administration is quietly moving ahead with
proposed plans on the controversial "Star Wars" anti-missile
defense system with a $200 million upgrade of the early
warning radar at a U.S. air force base.GO>>

SERBIA/CROATIA:
The Balkans
November 2, 2004 FRONTLINE/World examines the
legacy of Balkan conflicts that claimed more than 200,000
lives in the 1990s, and explores what people there think
about the U.S.-led NATO bombing and the U.S. presidential
race. Elizabeth Gettelman reports from Croatia, where they
remember President Clinton warmly. Molly Blank writes from
Serbia, where nationalists resent Clinton and worry about
a Kerry presidency, but have a low opinion of President
Bush. GO>>

DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC: Dual Citizens
October 26, 2004
Dominican American correspondent Yahaira Castro examines
the divided political loyalties of Dominican citizens living
in the U.S. She finds an ethnic group intensely involved
in the politics of their Caribbean island, yet reluctant
to get involved in U.S. politics. But that may be changing
as Kerry and Bush both woo this voting bloc. GO>>

EL
SALVADOR: Payback
October 12, 2004
Correspondent Joe Rubin reports from El Salvador, a country
which sent troops to Iraq, and has a long, turbulent history,
involving both Bush presidents and Senator John Kerry. GO>>

CANADA:
Border Town
October 5, 2004
Correspondent Meghan Laslocky visits a small town in Canada,
just north of Vermont, to find out what locals are saying
about the U.S. presidential race. Both English and French-speaking
Canadians share their views of health care, the prescription
drug market and their country's plan to decriminalize marijuana
use. GO>>

BELARUS:
The View From the Underground
September 28, 2004
Correspondent Keli Dailey sets off to Belarus, where the
KGB, collective farms, and government-choreographed elections
are still the norm. In her report Dailey scours the Soviet-era
metro in the capital, Minsk, scavenging opinions from a
bitter babushka and some angry skinheads about their authoritarian
leader -- and the U.S.GO>>

CHAD/SUDAN:
A Question of Genocide
September 21, 2004
Correspondent Amy Costello of PRI's The
World files a harrowing, eyewitness report for FRONTLINE/World
from the Sudanese refugee camps in Chad, where some 180,000
black Africans have fled attacks by Sudanese government-backed
Arab raiders known as the Janjaweed. Over the past 18 months,
some 50,000 people in Sudan's Darfur region have been killed
in what U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is now calling
"genocide."GO>>

PAKISTAN:
The Hunt for Osama bin Laden
September 14, 2004
Will the U.S. ever catch Osama bin Laden? Any chance it
might happen before November 2? FRONTLINE/World and
New York Times Television correspondent Sharmeen Obaid reports
from Pakistan's turbulent northwest frontier, interviewing
warlords and tribal leaders about the hunt for al-Qaeda.GO>>

UGANDA:
President for Life?
September 7, 2004
Correspondent Jonathan Jones reports from Uganda about a
U.S. ally and a hero in the fight against AIDS, President
Yoweri Museveni, who may be letting power go to his head.GO>>

KENYA:
Terror, Trade and Tourists
September 7, 2004
Correspondent Andrew Strickler looks at the legacy of the
U.S. embassy bombing and asks Kenyans who they'd rather
see in the White House -- George W. Bush or John Kerry?
GO>>

BURMA:
Can Sanctions Bring Democracy?
August 24, 2004
Correspondent Joan Bieder ventures inside Burma, a country
which appears to be "moving backward," and reports on the
impact of U.S. economic sanctions against a military regime
which stills holds Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu
Kyi under house arrest. GO>>

EUROPE:
Continental Drift
August 17, 2004
Correspondent Mark Schapiro reports from Budapest and Brussels
on the emerging economic and political power of the European
Union, and why for Europeans the U.S. may not matter anymore.
GO>>

THAILAND:
The Vet Who Didn't Come Home
August 10, 2004
Correspondent Carrie Ching reports on American veterans
of the Vietnam War now living in Thailand -- the vets who
didn't come home -- and how these expatriates view the war
in Iraq and the U.S. election. GO>>

SYRIA/LEBANON:
The Occupier and the Occupied
August 3, 2004 FRONTLINE/World series editor
Stephen Talbot reports from Lebanon, where Syrian troops
still occupying the country exert a strong influence on
local elections, in which the radical Hezbollah ("Party
of God") emerged recently as a major winner. GO>>